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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe McGavin News, 1988-07-13, Page 3McGAVIN NEWS PAGE 3. Machinery sales began on family farm in 1936 Continued from page 1 years in business with a big party for long-time employees, customers and friends at the Brussels, Morris and Grey Community Centre. Back in 1986 Neil recalled some of the early history of the family firm and talked about how things had changed over the years. It was in the mid-1930’s that J.J. McGavin, well-known farmer and drover helped his son Gordon McGavin set up a machinery sales from the family farm in McKillop Township, south of Walton. Young Gordon was making a name for himself in those days with his Fordson tractorandOliverplow winning plowing matches, including the Canadian champion­ ship in 1936. The young plowman began selling the Oliver plows that he was helping to popularize. The other main items in those pre-war years for farm implement sales were tractors, cultivators and manure spreaders. Today the list of equipment sold by McGavin’s goes as long as your arm: tractors, plows, gravity boxes, snowblow­ ers, round balers, haybines, forage boxes, corn heads, sprayers and much more. Sales records show the increased cost of machinery in the farming business too. In 1937a new tractor and plow from McGavin’s cost $850. In 1986 the average tractor sold by the company cost about $20,000 and the company specialized in smaller and medium sized tractors that year. Annual sales records from 1953 show gross sales of $104,807. By 1985 the total had climbed past the $4 million mark. Of course the cost of doing business for the company itself has also increased, Neil McGavin, who took over the business from his father in 1963, points out. Ini 942 the entire cost of wages for the year totalled $2,308. In 1985 the payroll for the company was just a hair under $240,000. Of course the staff has also increased in numbers since then. Today there are 22 employees. Back in 1947while his father was still operating the business from the farm, there was a lot of equipment sold but there was only one hired hand ... and he also helped with the milking. Neil sees 1973 as the turning point as far as much of the inflation in costs is concerned. In 1973 a mechanic made $3 per hour and, to cover the costs of tools, etc., McGavin’s charged his time out at $6 per hour. Today mechanic’s labour charges run at $29.90 per hour but the company has to pick up costs for so many extras like uniforms, Workmen’s Compensation and so many other small costs that add up. Back in 1986 a memo from the dealers association told dealers they had to get the message out to their customers because barbers today earn more than mechanics. Butifthecost of labour has increased, how about the cost of things like telephone services. Until about 1952 the cost of telephone was paid yearly on the taxes and amounted to about $30 per year. In 1986 the company ran a telephone bill of about $1,100 per month. The searching through old files in preparation for the 50th anniversary cele­ brations has brought to light other gems. Gordon McGavin was one of the earlv supporters of CKNX radio and was a friend of station founder Doc Cruikshank. In 1986 Neil called up the station and said he thought he ’ d been overcharged because he had been charged $40 for a commercial but he had an earlier bill in his hand that said radio ads cost only $ 1. Whe n the person at the station asked what the date on the bill was he said 1952. (The station was very interested to hear of the bill because all CKNX’s old records were destroyed in the fire in the 1960’s.) In the early years Gordon McGavin was a Cockshutt dealer but the marriage ended in divorce in 1958. McGavin’s started selling the new, imported Nuffield tractors and Cockshutt issued an ultimatum: sell only their tractors or lose the dealership. Later, after Gordon McGavin dropped the dealer­ ship, the company official who made the ultimatum was fired and the company came back to Gordon asking him to reconsider but by that time he had discovered how much easier it was to deal with smaller companies than the big ones and wanted no part of it. The McGavin Farm Equipment division still deals with a wide range of companies for the many different kinds of machinery they sell. Today the company is located in the old Walton school house with the large new addition built on the north side. The McGavins moved their operation to Walton from the farm location in 1952 and located on the corner of County roads 25 and 12, the main corner of the village. In 1963 the move was made to the present location in a scheme that was a story in itself. Peopleinthe Waltonarea had decided they wanted to build a new school. The provincial government had slapped a freeze on new school construction but said any school that had already started construction or purchasedland for a new school could proceed. Gordon McGavin purchased the land on which the present Walton school stands, swapped it with the school board, and overnight the school board qualified to proceed with its new school. Congratulations & Best Wishes White - New Idea Farm Equipment Co. 321 Sheldon Drive, Cambridge (519) 622-3440 To Neil, Brian & Staff We were happy to be chosen as a BUILDING CONTRACTOR for this project... Wishing you continued success... HENRY F. EXEL CONSTRUCTION Residential, Agricultural, Commercial Brussels 887-6561 Gordon McGavin probably got a lot of satisfaction in outmanoeuvring the Progres­ sive Conservative government for one of the few victories the long-time Liberal was able to claim for many years when Tory domination was supreme both federally and provincially in Huron county. After many years of working hard behind the scenes, Gordon ran for election in 1963 and turned the running of the company over to Neil who had returned to work for his father after graduatingfromUniversity of Guelph in 1957. One of the first headaches the new young manager had to deal with was the number of farmers who arrived and announced they had worked on his father’s election campaign and expected an espe­ cially good deal because of it. More than a few turned out not to even live in the riding. Today another generation of McGavins is on the way up in the organization. Neil’s son Brian graduated from Guelph in 1985 and joined the company. Notthatbusiness is new to Brian. He already operated a successful commercial baling business and did $21,000 worth of business in his first year. Brian and brother, Jeff now operate the baling business. The family lives on the farm where the company originally started out in the 1930’ s. 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